The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-05-30
THE TALI,Y-sHEET FORGERY RING,

THE TALLY-SHEET FORGERY RING.
1t has now been a little more than six
months since the preparation of the tally
sheet forgeries by which it attempted to
reverse the result of election i'll Marion
county. These forgeries were the outgrowth
of system of bossism which for long time
had controlled the Democratic party, and to
some extent the politics of the city and
county. 1t was ring-rule in its very worst
form-the tyranny of coterie of unscrupu-
lous partisans, headed and controlled by a
man who follows politics for the reason
that thieves and burglars follow their voca-
ton. The mans regular business is not
exhaustive of his time energy but he has
enough of both left to make himself recog-
nized boss in the Democratic party, and the
baser elements of the party gladly follow him.
The lower classes look to him as their
natural leader. and law-breakers of all
kinds and degrees regard him as the
coming man. By virtue of this kind of fol
lowing and of a certain ability in organizing
and controlling men of his class. he has actu-
ally become power III poutlcS AHere are
good men in the Democratic party who would
gladly see it rescued from that sort of leader
ship, but they are either not numerous enough
or not aggressive enough to make themselves
dominant within the party. A seat in the
City Council, the craftsmanship of the county
committee and leading place and part in all
the party councils, still attest the power he
has gained by sheer force and his knack of
controlling men as INSCRIPTIONS as himself.
1t was strictly in the line of business for such
a man to plan, organize, direct and aid in the
tally sheet forgeries. be and his leutenants
had given abundant evidence before this
that they regarded politics game
in which honesty and fair dealing had no
place. They had insulted and outraged the
moral sense of the community in many ways,
and had organized and encouraged system
| attic course Of law-b breaking that was calcu-
lated and intended to put the city under
| the feet of the lawless element. But the
| tally-sheet forgeries the boldest thing
| they had ever DONE no worse in a moral sense
than many other things, but more open and
| shocking. 1t was the first time in the his
/ tory of indianapolis that the returns of an
| election had been surreptitiously obtained
| after they were complete, and the figures and
| footings altered so as to reverse the result.
| The crime itself was not more startling than
! the evidence was conclusive. The latter was
SO plain that the very body of the crime
photographed showing the erasures, the
scratches on the paper. and the sub
| stituted figures in different ink and by
| a different hand. That the work was
done bunglingly and finally failed of success
| is nothing to the point. 1t was intended and
| expected to succeed, and would have done so
but for the vigilance which detected and pre-
| vented it. The exposure of the crime caused
| decided sensation Honest men, irrespective
of party, denounced it. Public opinion de-
manded that it be Investigated and the per-
petrators brought to Justice. A meeting was
held and a committee appointed to institute
proceedings for an investigation. The very
first step that was taken brought to the front
the head of the ring and some of his trusted
lieutenants accompanied by a formidable
array Of lawyers. They fought the investiga-
ton step by step and inch by inch, from one
court to another, and from one grand jury to
another, using all the arts known to the law
and all the arts known to rascals outside of
the law to prevent the truth from coming out.
After contest running through the greater
part of six months they have been indicted by
grand jury which proof against the
methods used to defeat indictments by others.
The finding of the indictments is impor-
tant point gained 1t is victory for justice,
but not final victory preliminary Skin
mish, not the main battle The latter is yet
to be fought Justice is often defeated by
being tired out. It is the favorite and usual
device of rascals who have other defense.
Particularly is it the favorite device of the
class Of rascals who perpetrate election frauds
and who generally have a pretty large cor
ruption fund to draw FROM A local boss, who